Disentangling Ethnic and Contextual Influences Among Parents Raising Youth in High-Risk Communities

Abstract

This article reports on analyses examining contextual influences on parenting with an ethnically and geographically diverse sample of parents (predominantly mothers) raising 387 children (49% ethnic minority; 51% male) in high-risk communities. Parents and children were followed longitudinally from first through tenth grades. Contextual influences included geographical location, neighborhood risk, SES, and family stress. The cultural variable was racial socialization. Parenting constructs created through the consensus decision-making of the Parenting Subgroup of the Study Group on Race, Culture, and Ethnicity (see Le et al., 2008) included Monitoring, Communication, Warmth, Behavioral Control and Parenting Efficacy. Hierarchical regressions on each parenting construct were conducted for each grade for which data were available. Analyses tested for initial ethnic differences and then for remaining ethnic differences once contextual influences were controlled. For each construct, some ethnic differences did remain (Monitoring, ninth grade; Warmth, third grade; Communication, kindergarten; Behavioral Control, eighth grade; and Parenting Efficacy, kindergarten through fifth grade). Ethnic differences were explained by contextual differences in the remaining years. Analyses examining the impact of cultural influences revealed a negative relation between racial socialization messages and Communication or Monitoring.

This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grants R18 MH48043, R18 MH50951, R18 MH50952, and R18 MH50953. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the National Institute on Drug Abuse also have provided support for Fast Track through a memorandum of agreement with the NIMH. This work was also supported in part by Department of Education grant S184U30002 and NIMH grants K05MH00797 and K05MH01027. Although these funding agencies approved the initial design of the study, they had no role in approving the analysis and interpretation of the data or in preparation and review of this manuscript.

We are grateful for the close collaboration of the Durham Public Schools, the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, the Bellefonte Area Schools, the Tyrone Area Schools, the Mifflin County Schools, the Highline Public Schools, and the Seattle Public Schools. We greatly appreciate the hard work and dedication of hundreds of staff members who implemented the project, collected the evaluation data, and assisted with data management.

Notes

Blank cells: Items in consensual construct not assessed that year.

∗Construct not used; reliability fell below threshold.

^a Table contains results of step two in two-step regression analyses.

∗p < .05, ∗∗p < .01. Significant parameters are bolded for ease of viewing.

^a Table contains results of step two in two-step regression analyses.

∗p < .05, ∗∗p < .01 Significant parameters are bolded for ease of viewing.

^a Table contains results of step two in two-step regression analyses.

∗p < .05, ∗∗p < .01 Significant parameters are bolded for ease of viewing.

^a Table contains results of step two in two-step regression analyses.

∗p < .05, ∗∗p < .01 Significant parameters are bolded for ease of viewing.

^a Table contains results of step two in two-step regression analyses.

∗p < .05, ∗∗p < .01 Significant parameters are bolded for ease of viewing.

^a Table contains results of step two in two-step regression analyses.

∗p < .05, ∗∗p < .01 Significant parameters are bolded for ease of viewing.

∗Members of the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, in alphabetical order, include Karen L. Bierman, Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University; John D. Coie, Department of Psychology, Duke University; Kenneth A. Dodge, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University; Mark T. Greenberg, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University; John E. Lochman, Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama; Robert J. McMahon, Department of Psychology, University of Washington; and Ellen E. Pinderhughes, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University.

Requests for reprints should be addressed to Seattle Fast Track, University of Washington, Department of Psychology, Box 351525, Seattle, WA 98195-1525. For additional information concerning Fast Track, see http://www.fasttrackproject.org